Subscribe To

Tuesday, October 9, 2012

Tuesday Morning Sentimonies: So Much To Be Thankful For

Riders 36 – Argos 10

All’s well that ends
well. The Riders defeated the Jarious Jackson-led Argos on Thanksgiving Monday
to move to 8-6 and back in the mix for a home playoff game. Well maybe “led”
isn’t the correct term, more like
Jackson-tolerated or Jackson endured.

I’m glad it ended
well because the start of the game gave me some concern. Despite the first quarter featuring a huge
opening return by West, a gift of a pass by Jackson that should have gone for 6,
a fumble on the next drive and a near miss by Butler on a kickoff recovery, we
were only up 13-10 late in the second quarter. Toronto was going out of its way
to give us the game and we were letting them stick around.

Fortunately it was it
this point that the Riders remembered they were a damn good football team and
the Argos remembered that there is a reason that after almost a decade in the
league, Jarious Jackson is still not viewed as starting material unless every other
option is hurt. After that it was all Saskatchewan. And really it should have
been. The Argos have a good D but ours is better. The Argos without Ray and
Kackert have a terrible offense and ours is on top of its game. This is a game
we should have won... and unlike a certain French team who played before us we
actually didn’t choke.

Why did we not think
to injure Durant’s hip flexor earlier? Apparently that’s what was holding him
back. Ever since returning from that injury, Durant has been playing
outstanding. He’s averaging 300 yards per game, completing 68% of his passes
and has only turned the ball over once... all while not taking off and running
one solitary time. He just seems dialed in... opposing defenses beware. Keep in
mind that over the past 2 weeks, Durant has bested Rich Stubler and Chris Jones
who are the top DC’s in the league. No reason to believe we won’t be able to
keep this up against other teams.

As impressed as I am
with Durant’s play, it’s not all on him. He’s getting help from the rest of his
offense (help that simply wasn’t there earlier in the season). The O-line is
giving him time in the pocket (on that Dressler TD, Durant had enough time to
carve a turkey, eat it and take a nap). They have allowed only 2 sacks in the
past 3 games. Also helping Durant is the fact that Bob Dyce has wisely decided
to lean on the running of Korey Sheets (feed him the ball and good things will happen)
and the receiving of Dressler (who has amassed 355 yds and 4 TDs over the past
3 games). Lastly, players not named Sheets or Dressler are stepping up to make
plays. Brandon West showed the effort you’d expect from a guy getting another
shot at playing time, Neal Hughes stepped up with a huge play and even the
normally unpredictable Taj Smith decided to actually catch the ball when called
upon (though I’m convinced that last one was mostly to spite me given the less
than favourable things I have been saying about him... but if that’s what it
takes for us to win I can take it). I have been harping on it all year but look
how taking a few deep shots per game helps stretch the defense and make life
easier underneath. Keep it up.

As for the defense, sure
they were playing a QB that has no business starting but still they did their
job. They only allowed 10 points, forced turnovers and kept one of the league’s
top receivers in check. It could have been even worse for the Argos if our DBs
could catch. Really, the Argos only ever had one drive all game other than that
the only threat of scoring while the Argos O was on the field was Jackson
throwing a TD to our DBs. Had Ray and
Kackert both been in the game, it would have unfolded very differently but the
way this defense is playing I don’t think the end result would have been any
different.

That’s now 5 wins in
our last 6 games, with our only loss coming in Montreal without Durant (and we
were close in that one). We’ve gone from worrying about securing a playoff spot
to worrying about securing a home playoff game (which is very attainable). In
the true spirit of thanksgiving, the Riders gave us many reasons to be
thankful.

Other random
thoughts:

-It
was nice of the Rogers Centre to make it “Dress in green” day at the stadium

-Seriously,
how bad would attendance have been for that game if not for the Rider fans?

-I
still don’t like the guy but hats off to Sandro for punting the ball well when
called upon.

-For
god sake stop throwing the out to McHenry!! It’s dangerous, he’s not a good
receiver and even if by some fluke we complete it the benefit is minimal at best.

-When
did Drew Willy become so inconsistent on short yardage? Better fix that up and
soon.

-Was
I the only one hoping that Picard would keep rumbling for big yards on that fumble
recovery?

-Toronto
yet again took well over 100 yards in penalties. If I was reffing a Toronto
game, I would petition to be paid per penalty called.

4 comments:

Anonymous
said...

they need to change things up when they bring willy in on second and short....everyone in the league now knows it going to be a hand off. I would like to see some play action or something on that. I know that the hand off is the safe play and with sheets 9 times out of 10 will work, but it is getting way to predicatable

I agree. I think on less than a yard the plunge should be automatic but when its a yard plus or 2 yards there needs to be some variety. Bootleg, play action, spread out the receivers to create space, etc..

1) Love your assessment of the game, the defense is the best in the league I think.

2) If people in Rider Nation think that Durant needs to sit, they better give their heads a serious shake, all this guy does is win win win.

3) I can't stand when the backfield is emptied on short yardage, I mean why not just come out and tell the defense that the QB is going to hold onto the ball, seems like we tip our hands on that play to often, through that play right out of the playbook, I agree with anon 1 that a play action on short yardage would be a great call.

4) Love the overall play calling by the O, would like to see someone else step up in the receiving corps though, will Foster be back this week?